Discover How Cleveland Professionals Create Residential Holiday Light Displays

Strings of alternating red and white lights outline the windows and roofline on a charming Lakewood home, while red-ribboned wreaths studded with tiny white lights punctuate the reverse gables. It takes an expert’s magic touch to make the stone-and-brick residence shine like a holiday wonderland.

Matt Scullin, proprietor of exterior maintenance company Window Genie’s Cleveland West franchise in Avon, notes that this house was distinguished by a single illuminated tree before the homeowner contacted him three years ago.

“He didn’t do the house,” he says. “He didn’t have the time.”

It’s one of the reasons — along with quality of design and installation and fear of falling off a ladder — that homeowners hire a pro to design, install, maintain, remove and store holiday lighting displays.

Bill Wade, owner of Wade Roofing in Mentor, recalls that his company was among the handful of businesses providing the service seven years ago. That changed as increased demand made it a viable sideline for roofers, landscapers, pressure washers and the like.

Scullin’s prices range from $600 to $5,000 for what he calls “a showcase job” — lighting gutter lines, peaks and bushes and hanging artificial wreaths, for example. Wade’s pricing begins at $700 and increases according to home size and display complexity. Scullin observes that most first-time clients don’t know what they’d like or how much it will cost.

“We try to price everything out, line item by line item, and find something that fits their budget,” he says.

Both Scullin and Wade say the only prep needed for them to light a home is at least one functioning exterior electrical outlet that is turned on during installation.

“That way, we can test all the lights before we leave,” Wade explains. They provide all commercial-grade materials. All the customer has to do is plug the lighting into a timer.

“For all intents and purposes, (customers) are leasing the materials during the installation,” Wade explains.

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Scullin, who was trained by Sussex, Wisconsin-based Reinders Holiday Lighting, starts installations the day after Labor Day; Wade, who is certified by the Christmas Light Installation Pros Association, begins contacting existing customers after the Fourth of July and hanging lights Oct. 1. (Wiring is placed so it’s hidden or less conspicuous during the day.) Both men’s teams return in November to hang wreaths and garlands and continue installing jobs into December as long as weather permits.

“Most of our customers are more than happy to allow us to get (the lights) up and get (them) out of the way,” Wade says. “That way, they can turn them on whenever they’re ready.”

Both men describe their design style as “classic elegance.”

“People get the best bang for the buck when we do gutter lines and peaks of the houses, basically following the exterior architecture of the home,” Scullin says.

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Wade doesn’t hang icicle lights — a strong wind can send the danglers into the gutters. And both men eschew inflatables.

“If a customer wants to add them to the display after we leave, that’s their choice,” Wade says.

Teardowns begin in January, weather permitting. Most repeat clients stick with the same lighting design year after year. But Scullin warns against leaving temporary lighting up throughout the year.

“They’re not electrically rated to stay up year-round because of the exposure to UV rays and the sun,” he explains. “The typical lighting is supposed to be up for about three months out of the year.”

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